598 



POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



nected therewitli is most remarkable. In the year 1722, Mr. Wood, 

 an iron founder of Wolverhampton, England, claimed to have dis- 

 covered an alloy suitable for coins, consisting of copper, zinc, and a 

 small proportion of silver 



Through the influence of a favorite of 



gold piece. Native gold ; 130 grains. 

 Oregon Exchange Company, 1849. 



S5 gold piece. Utah ( Holiness to the Lord), 

 1850. 



George I, known as the " Duchess of Kendall," a patent was issued 

 by the king, dated July 12, 1722, together with a " royal licence," 

 which was to continue for fourteen years, for coining " tokens " for 

 Ireland and the colonies of ^Nortli America to a large extent — viz., 

 " three hundred tons " ; the amount of the Irish coin was limited to 

 £105,000, a great sum at that day. 



A small royalty of £100 a year was to be paid into the king's 

 exchequer and a salary of £200 to an officer of the Crown, called the 

 " comptroller," Sir Isaac ISTewton, then the director of the Royal 

 Mint, was chosen for this office, and he served for a short time, when 

 he nominated a nephew, who succeeded him. 



Thousands of Wood's base metal coins were struck for use in 

 Ireland, and the issue would probably have been accepted by the peo- 

 ple without question, had it not been that Dean Swift, then living in 

 seclusion, saw in this scheme an opportunity to attack the English 

 Government, and by his Drapier's Letters, his poems, and other 

 writings, all anonymously published, in which he mercilessly lam- 

 pooned the scheme and all those who were in any way connected with 



it, he aroused a storm of 

 fury that is said to have 

 been "indescribable." A 

 writer of the day said: 

 " All parties. Catholics 

 and Protestants, Whigs, 

 Tories, Orangemen, and 

 Rapparees, were equally 

 frantic. Merchants pub- 

 licly announced that they 

 would not accept the coin; the very hawkers and link-boys refused it, 

 declaring it would buy neither ale, tobacco, nor brandy. Wood's 

 effigy was dragged through the streets of Dublin and burned. . , , 



$20 gold piece. Utah (Holiness to the Lordi, 1849. 



